Prince
by Katherine B
Summary: Adam is the prince of California and Sauli moves into the city where Adam and his parents live. And then things start processing from there. Adam/Sauli fic. Don t like, don t read.
1. Chapter 1

Omg. This is VERY long to be the first chapter. I wasn´t going to make this so long, but it just happened. Anyway, this is an Adam/Sauli fic. Don´t like? Don´t read. Takes place somewhere in the history. Kinda like a medieval thing. Like princes and stuff. I don´t know if this whoe idea makes any sense, because I got it during chemistry class as the teacher mentioned swords and armors. That´s just how my mind works. It turns everything to potential fic ideas. Everything. But enough of that. Here´s the fic and I hope you like it.

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><p><strong>Adam´s POV<strong>

_Ugh. This is so boring. I have to sit here and look at these girls all day. Well, maybe not all day, but that's what it feels like. And I don't even feel any kind of attraction towards them. I mean, yes, they're pretty. Can't deny that. But I just don't work that way. I like boys. But my parents just don't know that yet. They just wonder why I haven't found a wife yet. I mean, what's the hurry with getting married anyway? I'm only 21. I, the prince of California, am not going to find a wife, because I don't want that. And- Oh. That's too much. Now these girls went too far. They're trying to seduce me! That one's taking off her shirt and all! I think my mom paid them to do that._ I thought while getting up from my chair and going to the door and straight out from the room. "Prince Adam! Where are you going?" The girls called after me, but I juts ignored them. I made my way straight into the library, where my mom, The Queen, surely was.

"Mom!" I yelled as I barged in through the library doors.

"Yes, Honey?" She said calmly, not looking up from the book she was reading.

"Did you pay those girls?" I asked as I walked over to her and took the book from her hands.

"Why do you think so, Sweetie?" She asked, now looking up at me.

"They were freaking undressing there!"

"I know, Honey." She stated calmly.

"So you did pay them!"

"Yes, I did. But Honey, calm down. This is the library."

"I know and I don't care! Why did you tell them to do that?"

"I thought that getting you to think with that-" She said, pointing at my crotch. "-would make you want to marry one of them." She said calmly, as if she was talking about today's dinner and not about her son's certain body part. _Yep. That's my mom for you._

"Mom! Your logic isn't working on me!" I said, blushing a bit due to her comment.

"Why? It has worked on every other prince I know." She said and I could see that she was confused.

"Because I fucking don't like girls!" I yelled at her. Then, I realised what I just said. "Shit... Mom, I..."

"Oh, Honey... Why didn't you say anything earlier? I wouldn't have invited any of those girls over if I'd known this."

"Because... I didn't know what you'd think..." I said, looking down at the floor.

"Honey... You're my son. I love you the way you are. No matter if you like girls or boys." She said and pulled me into a hug. I just hugged her back tightly.

"So... Have you found any good husband candidates?" She asked, pulling away from the hug to look at me in the eyes.

"Not yet. I haven't even been looking for them very actively, because I wouldn't have been able to date them without you finding out about it sooner or later."

"True. Shall we go tell this your dad now?"

"Yeah. Let's go. Do you know where he is?"

"Last time I saw him, he was in the garden." She said, getting up from the chair.

We headed to the front doors of the castle and then outside, into the garden. After a while of wandering around, I spotted Dad sitting on one of the benches we have in the garden.

"Dad!" I said as we approached him.

"What is it, Adam? Something wrong?" He asked, turning to look at me and Mom.

"Nothing's wrong. I just have something to tell you."

"What is it, Son?" He asked, gesturing me to come to sit down next to him. Mom has wandered to the other direction, letting me to talk to Dad alone.

"I know you've been getting those girls to come over here so that I'd find a wife." I said as I sat down to the bench.

"You know? How?"

"I'm not stupid, Dad. And besides, Sarah told me. You shouldn't talk about things that you don't want me to know when she's around. We're friends and she tells me a lot of things."

"Point taken. But that isn't all you wanted to tell me, is it?"

"It isn't. You don't have to invite those girls over anymore. Nor pay them so that they'd try to seduce me." I said, shuddering at the thought of the girls. They knew how to be annoying, at least in my opinion. Every other man might have said that they were hot and very irresistible.

"Why? Have you already found a wife?"

"No, Dad. The thing is, I don't want _a wife_. If I ever get married, it'll be with a loving husband-to-be."

"So you...?"

"That's right. I'm never going to feel the same way towards women as I do for men."

"Adam... Why didn't you tell us earlier? We wouldn't have tortured you with the girls if we'd known."

"I... I didn't tell you earlier, because I didn't know what you'd think and how you'd react. I needed to gather up some courage." I said, looking down at my hands.

"Son... We love you the way you are. No matter who you'll fall in love with." He said and pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back, whispering a quiet "Thank you, Dad...".

A few months later, I think both me and my parents have come to the conclusion that there are no single gay guys in the whole kingdom. Actually, there's not even one here. Neither single or taken. Or then they just don't want to admit it. Sucks for me. My parents have pretty much searched the whole kingdom for even one. I'm one of a kind in this place right now. But I'm pretty sure that one day, I'll find someone. Eventually. I hope.

A few weeks later, as I was strolling around in the town, I saw that someone was moving into the old shop. The shop's owner has died a while ago. It looked like a young man and his parents were moving in. After a while, I noticed that the young man had stopped in the middle of lifting a box and was now staring at me. And I couldn't help but look straight back at him. He was, let's say, the most handsome man I've ever seen. And that's something, since I'm the prince and I've seen a lot of people. We just both stood there, staring at each other for quite a while. Then, his mother walked out from the shop and said something in a language I've never heard before, ruining the moment. The man snapped out of it and shook his head to clear his thoughts. He said something back to the woman and turned around, heading inside. Right as he was about to go inside, he turned around and steadied the box with one hand. Then, he did something no man has done to me before. He waved at me with a kind smile. And that's when I fell in love with him. Though I didn't realise it yet. My mind was too busy running around that man. _Oh my god, he's so cute! How can he be so cute?_ Soon, I snapped out of it too and waved back at him shyly, smiling a bit. His smile grew wider as he turned around and went into the house. I just stood there, awestruck and probably blushing too. He is the first guy that has ever showed any signs of affection towards me. Publicly or privately. _Hell, I have to find out that who he is. And fast. And then I'll have to get to know him and why is me heart beating so fast?_ I thought while trying to tear my eyes away from the empty doorway. But all I could see in my mind were those beautiful, blue eyes staring at me. After a while, the man came back outside and grinned as he noticed that I was still staring at him. He just waved at me again before going to get another box inside.

After a few days, there was a merchants´ gathering at the main square and a full-blown market going on. And, of course, I wanted to go there. As I was wandering around there, I got free stuff from everyone. One of the cons of being part of the royal family. I was too lost in thought to think of looking where I was going. In no time, I bumped into someone. The someone fell down to the ground with a groan.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I said before looking down at the person. _Oh, shit. It's the guy. The guy who moved in to the shop a few days ago. But where has he been? I haven't seen him since that day._

"I'm fine. My lower back just hurts a bit, but it'll be fine." He said and sat up, looking up at me.

"And hi. You're the guy who was staring at me when we moved here."

"Am I labelled as a stalker now?" I asked with a chuckle, holding out my hand towards him to help him up.

"Maybe. Depends on how much you know about me. Because I've been away for the last two days." He said and took my hand with a smile.

"I know absolutely nothing about you. Not even your name or where you're from. You have a weird accent, though."

"If you don't even know that much, then you're definitely not a stalker. If you would have wanted to find that out earlier, you could have just walked into the shop and gotten the info from my parents easily. Thought then they would have asked you a dozen of questions in return."

"So, you gonna tell me now?"

"I think I could. But then you have to tell me a bit about yourself in return."

"I can do that."

"Okay. My name's Sauli and I'm from a small country in northern Europe."

"What country? I've been in school. I know where most countries are." I said with a smile.

"How? How did you afford it? Going to school costs a fortune."

"I´ll explain it later. Now, back to you. What country?"

"Okay. Finland." He said, smiling back and then noticing the apples I had. He raised an eyebrow and looked at them.

"You want one?" I asked, offering one for him.

"Yeah. Thanks." He said and accepted it, taking a bite from it.

"So, Finland. It's next to Russia, isn't it?"

"Yep. It is." He said with his mouth of full of the apple. He probably wouldn't have talked to me with his mouth full of apple if he would know who I really am. Not that it bothers me, no. I like it when people act casually around me. It's a nice change from the way the maids and butlers act around me.

"Okay. But isn't it, like, freezing cold in there all year around?" I asked, looking at him.

"No. Only during winter. When it's summer, it's as warm as here now."

"Wow. I would've never guessed that. Oh. And what was your name again?" I asked. I was hopeless when it came to remembering others' names.

"It's Sauli." He said, smiling and playfully bowing to me.

"Sauli?" I stuttered, probably pronouncing it all wrong.

"No, no, no. That's not how you pronounce it. I'll teach it to you later. But now, who are you and where are you from?" He asked, taking a bite from the apple again.

"Me? My name's Adam and I live there." I said, turning around and pointing at the castle.

"There? In the castle? What do you do there? Work?" He asked, clearly confused. Of course he was. I don't look like a servant or anything like that. Not that I look like a prince either. I just had a plain white shirt that was a bit dirty and black shorts. My disguise. Though it works only to the ones that have moved here recently. Just like him.

"No. I just sit around all day and go to random parties."

"But isn't that-?"

"-what the royalty does. It is." I said with a smirk.

"You are...? Oh my god! You're the prince?"

"The one and only. You would've never guessed that, right?"

"I... No. I wouldn't have. Aren't princes supposed to wear super-fancy clothes and have dozens of bodyguards with them?"

"This is my disguise. And not here. Here are guards everywhere. I'm perfectly safe. And besides, people respect me and my parents here."

"Disguise? Why do you need one?"

"I mostly use it because I get bored with wearing my "super-fancy clothes" and these are much more comfortable." I said with a smile.

"I understand that. I've seen the things royalties wear. They don't look like the most comfortable things."

"And they're not. Especially with all the layers. It sometimes gets too hot in those clothes and this weather."

"That's why I'm glad that I can wear anything I want. Or anything I have, should I say. I have only these and two other shirts and pants." He said with a small smile.

"Only those? We seriously need to buy you some clothes."

"You don't have to buy me clothes. I've been surviving with not-so-many clothes for the last 19 years."

"Which brings me to my next question. How old are you?" I asked as we stepped away from the busy market area.

"19. You?" _Perfect. What? Why am I thinking like that? I don't love him like that. Yet. He's nice, I can't deny that. But I don't even know if he's gay or not. If he's not, I don't want to go through the heartbreak of realising that he'll never love me back._

"21. Why?" I asked and happy-looking smile made it's way to his face. I blushed a bit at that. _Why is he happy when he found out my age? He can't possibly REALLY be gay and be interested in me. I can't be that lucky. I just can't._

"Just asking." He said and I could almost literally see the gears turning inside his head as his smile got brighter.

"Okay." I said, smiling back at him and leaning to the wall behind me. Sauli leaned to the wall too, enjoying the cool ocean breeze and the sunshine, closing his eyes. _He trusts me already. And we REALLY met only half an hour ago. No one has ever trusted me this fast after meeting me. They're always really careful about what they say and what they do, because I'm the prince. And I don't like it. This is how everyone should act. Carefree and casual. Like he does._ I thought, closing my eyes too, smiling a bit happily. We just stood there quietly, enjoying the sunlight. After a while, Sauli's eyes shot open and he stood up straight.

"What is it?" I asked, opening my eyes and looking at him.

"I just remembered why I came here in the first place! My mom sent me to get some carrots, eggs and fish. I gotta go buy them! Bye!" He said, heading back into the busy market area.

"Sauli, wait!" I called after him, still pronouncing his name all wrong. He stopped dead on the tracks and turned to look at me.

"What?" He asked hurriedly. Guess he really should've been home already.

"Wait for me. I can buy them for you." I said while walking up next to him.

"You don't have to. I have enough money with me."

"That's not the point. I want to buy them for you." I said with a kind smile.

"...okay. Let's go." He said, giving in to my idea. I smiled brighter as we walked towards the vegetable stalls. After a while, we had gotten the eggs and the carrots and were now at the fish stalls.

"We'll take that." Sauli said, pointing at a small trout.

"No, no, no. Give us the best and biggest fish you have." I said to the merchant with a smile.

"Adam, no. you don't have to." Sauli protested, still trying to get me to change my mind.

"But I want to. The end. No arguments." He just gave up with a sigh, taking the fish into the basket he had.

"Are you happy now?" He asked from me with a small smile as we were walking towards the shop.

"Yeah. I am." I said, carrying the eggs and the carrots.

"Well, I have to go now. But I had fun. We can meet again sometime if you want." He said as we got to the door of the shop.

"It's be nice. How abut you come into the castle to get me when you have time. I'm pretty much almost always there. And if I'm not, I'll the guards to let you in, so you could wait for me there."

"Okay. I´ll come there when I have time. See you again, Adam. Bye." He said, giving me a small hug before opening the door and going inside. "Bye." I said to him right before he went inside and closed the door. Then I just turned around and headed back to the castle with a smile on my face.

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><p>Okay. What do you think? Review, please?<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Sauli's POV**

I gave Adam a small hug before going inside. I heard him say "Bye" to me right as I went in and closed the door. Mom was sitting on the chair in the corner of our small kitchen. Her arms were crossed over her chest.

"What took you so long, Sauli?"

"You want the truth?" I asked, starting to put the groceries away.

"I would like that." She said as she walked up next to me.

"Okay. I met the guy who was staring at me when we moved here."

"And? What happened?" She asked, her mood changing from angry to curious.

"Well, first he bumped into me and I fell down to the ground. He helped me up and then we started talking and I told him where I'm from and what my name is. He has trouble with pronouncing it right."

"Did you find out who he is?"

"I did. His name's Adam and he lives in the castle."

"And what doe he do there?"

"Quoting him, he sits around all day and goes to random parties."

"But isn't that what the royalty do?"

"Yep. Exactly. He's the prince."

"You met the prince?"

"Yep. And he's really nice. He even paid for the carrots, the eggs and the fish. And about the fish... It's not the one you asked for." I said, taking the fish and giving it to her.

"Then what is this?" She asked, starting to open the package.

"See for yourself." I said with a smile. She slowly opened the package and as she recognized the fish, her eyes widened.

"Oh my god! This is salmon! He bought this for us?"

"He did. He actually insisted on paying for the groceries. And he said that whenever I have time, I could go and visit him in the castle. Since he's pretty much always there."

"Are you two friends now?"

"I think we are. Though we've only known each other properly for a bit over an hour."

"But you saw him when we moved here."

"I did. But we didn't talk then. I just waved at him. And he blushed cutely."

"Cutely? Sauli, do you have a crush on him?"

"I... Maybe. I mean, he's super-cute and handsome. And kind. But I need to get to know him better. Because I actually don't know that much about him."

"Good. I've trained you well. Never take a leap before checking where you'll land."

"And I haven't even been in love before. So, I don't even know what it feels like."

"Well, I can tell you one thing. When you fall in love, the world will look different. Everybody suddenly seem a lot nicer and you just feel overall happier. You'll notice when it happens. And if you want to know more, ask from your prince. He knows."

"Mom! He's not mine! And are you sure that he knows? What if he hasn't been in love before either?"

"I don't know about before, but I'm pretty sure that he's in love right now.

"With who?"

"With you, Silly. I saw the way he looks at you. And trust me, he loves you. There could even have been a green man with a three-headed dog standing right next to you and he wouldn't have noticed it. Because he was staring at you all the time. But now, go see your prince so I can cook in peace. If you get dinner there, you can stay till 9pm, okay?"

"Yes, Mom. I know. I'm not twelve anymore. I'll be back before 9. See ya! And he's not mine!"

" See you later, Sweetie." She said to me right before I closed the door.

As I was walking towards the castle, I stopped at the main square to buy an apple for myself. As I got to the gates of the castle, there were two guards just standing there and staring at me.

"Who are you?" One of the guards asked.

"I'm Sauli and I'm wondering if Adam's here."

"Oh. It's you. The prince mentioned you. He's not here right now, but he should be back in an hour or two. You can come in and wait in the garden or in the library."

"That'd be nice. And the garden sounds better."

"Okay. Come on in." The guard said and opened the gate for me. Then he led me into the garden and left. I wandered around in the garden for a while before finding a nice spot in the sunlight. I sat down to the grass, looking around with a smile. _This garden is so beautiful and peaceful..._

Soon, I laid down, looking up at the blue sky. It was so relaxing to just lay there and let your thoughts wander. After a while, my thoughts concentrated on one thing only. Or one person. Adam. _I wonder where he's right now and what he's doing... And if he's dating anyone... I kind of wish he wasn't, because I really like him. I may even be in love with him. I don't know. Because I don't even know what being in love feels like. But one thing I'm sure of. I like him._ I thought, just laying there with my eyes closed., listening to the birds and the sound of the fountain.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I noticed was someone poking my cheek with his finger softly. I slowly opened my eyes and the first thing I saw were those blue eyes looking at me. Adam was back. He also had a happy smile on his face.

"Good morning, Sleepy Head." He said after a while of just looking at me with a smile.

"Hi. How long have you been here already?" I asked, not sitting up yet I just stretched a bit.

"For about twenty minutes."

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"Because you looked so peaceful. And you're cute when you sleep." He said, smiling brightly. I blushed a bit at that. _He thinks I'm cute?_ He softly touched my reddish cheek with his fingers and I had to fight the urge to lean into the touch. _His skin is so soft..._ He didn't say anything. He just traced the line of my cheekbone with his finger, leaving millions of butterflies fluttering under my skin. I blushed bright red and probably was the same colour as the half-eaten apple next to me. But I didn't say anything, because I didn't want this moment to end. I was just looking at Adam into his eyes and he was looking right back at mine. _His eyes are so beautiful.. I could just stare at them all day..._ After a short while, he traced his finger over my lower lip and my eyes fluttered closed. I did try to keep my eyes open, but his skin was just so soft. The next thing I knew, he pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. It was so light that I barely felt it. I slowly opened my eyes, looking at him, still blushing. His eyes were closed and he had a soft smile on his face. All I did was look at him and wait for him to open his eyes.

After a short while, he opened his eyes and his happy look turned to sad and a bit apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Sauli... I didn't mean to... I don't know why I did that..." he said, looking down at his hands.

"Hey... It's okay. To tell the truth, it felt nice. No one has never done anything like that to me before." I said softly, making him look at me by pushing up his chin with one finger. His eyes were soft, but still a bit apologizing. I smiled softly.

"No one has never done anything like that to you before?" He said, repeating what I had just said. Like he didn't believe it.

"No. Never." I said as I sat up, scooting a bit closer to him. "And I haven't even ever dated anyone. So, I don't know what being in love feels like. Though I would like to know. Have you been in love? Do you know what it feels like?" I asked, blushing and looking down at my hands.

"Yes, I have been in love. I can try to explain what it feels like. And there's nothing to be ashamed of in asking that question." He said softly, now making me look at him. I looked at him curiously.

"Okay... How should I try to explain this... Well, if you are in love with someone and se the person, everything else seems to become boring and turn black-and-white. And the person's voice is like music to you. And when he or she hugs you, kisses you or anything, you will feel like nothing else in the world matters at the moment. You also want to make sure that the person is happy. Even if it meant that you'll be miserable. Even if it meant that you would have to watch him or her love someone else like you wanted to be loved." He had looked at me deep into my eyes all the while he had said that. And one thing I saw was the love evident in his eyes. He was in love with me.

"Adam... I know you've been wondering if I like boys or girls. And I like boys. And I also am pretty sure that you like me. Am I right?" Adam's face has been getting redder and redder during my speech and now was as red as a tomato. He looked at me for a while quietly before nodding a bit. I smiled, pulling him into a hug.

"I feel the same way for you." He seemed to be a bit stunned because of my sudden confession, but hugged back after a while.

"I'm so happy to hear you say that. I've had so many sleepless nights because I was wondering if you like me and if you do, then how much and in what way. That if you think me as a friend or just someone to pass time with. That do I mean anything to you, since we haven't known eachother for that long yet. And I know some people that will do anything to not jump into a relationship before learning more about the other one first. And I didn't know if you are like that or not."

"I am like that, Adam. My mom has thought me to be like that. But there's just something about you that makes me fall more and more in love with you every second I spend with you. And when I'm not with you, it feels like I'm not whole. Like an important part of me is missing. And the moment I see you again, the part is there. Like it's never been away at all. And when you hold me like this, I feel so safe. So safe that I could stay here forever." I said, nuzzling him softly. He smiled lovingly and kissed my cheek.

"So, you're here now. What would you like to do?" He asked after a while, still holding me in his arms.

"I don't know. I'm fine with staying here all day."

"And be all day, you mean?"

"Until 9pm. If I get dinner here. That's what my mom said."

"Oh, I'm sure you could even stay overnight if you'd ask my parents. I told them about you last night and they looked like they love you already. Even though they haven't even met you yet." He said with a chuckle, running his fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes and leaned my head to his chest.

"That's good. I wouldn't want them to hate me."

"That'd be impossible. Because if you ask me, it's not possible to hate you. You're so nice." He said, taking my hand and kissing it softly. I just smiled happily with my eyes still closed.

"Adam, Dear, dinner's ready soon! Get up and come inside! It's getting dark already anyway!" Someone yelled from the backdoor of the castle a few hours later, obviously not noticing me.

"Yes, Mom! Just a minute! Or as long as the sunset lasts!" Adam answered, looking down at me with a smile.

"Okay, Honey!" His mom answered before going back inside.

"She didn't see me, right?" I asked, looking up at him.

"She didn't. Because is she had, she wouldn't have gone back inside. She would've come here to meet you."

"Okay." I said and turned to look at the sunset again.

After a while, the sun had set, so I sat up, stretching a bit.

"Shall we go to eat dinner now?" I asked as I stood up, helping Adam up too.

"Yep. Let's go. I'll show you where the dining room is." He said, leading me into the castle and making his way towards the dining room. _You really had to know where you were going if you didn't want to get lost in here. I would get lost in less than 5 minutes in here._ Soon, we got into the dining room and Adam led me to one of the many chairs around the massive table before sitting down to the chair next to mine. Both the king and the queen were watching me.

"Honey, who is this?" The queen asked, turning to look at Adam.

"He's Sauli. I told about him to you yesterday, remember?" Adam said to them with a smile, taking my hand and holding it under the table. I turned to look at him and smiled softly.

"Oh, it's him. It's so nice to meet you, Sauli." The queen said with a kind smile.

"It's nice to meet you too." I said with a small smile. During the dinner, she asked me quite a lot of questions about what it was like in Finland and so on.

After the dinner, Adam took me back into the garden to watch the cloudless night sky. We laid down the most open place in the garden to see all the stars and the moon. We just laid there, talking about random things. In no time, it was almost 9pm and I had to go home.

"Do you really have to go?" Adam asked with puppy dog eyes and a pout and I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes. I do have to go. But I'll be back tomorrow if I have time." I said and hugged him softly.

"...Okay. But let me at least walk you home..."

"That we can do. But we need to go now. It'll surely be more than 9pm when I get home." I said and took his hand. He smiled softly and led me to the gates and out from them. Then we made our way through the town, hand in hand, not hurrying that much, since I was already late anyway. As we got to the gate of the shop, we stopped and I turned to look at him. He had a sad smile on his face and his eyes were full of love.

"I hope you do have time to come and see me tomorrow..." He said quietly, looking down sadly.

"I'll find time to come to see you." I said and pulled him into a hug.

"Okay..." He said and looked up at me. Then, he did something I wasn't expecting him to do. But no, I'm not saying I didn't like it. He pulled me into a sweet, loving kiss. I was a bit stunned at first, but soon kissed him back with love. After a while, we had to break the kiss for air. We just pressed our foreheads together and looked at each other in the eyes.

"I really need to go now..." I said after a short while, not wanting to go.

"Okay..." He said and gave me a quick kiss. "Good night, Sauli." He said and smiled softly before turning around and heading back home.

"Good night, Adam..." I said, watching at him walk away. _I love you..._ I wanted to say that aloud, but I didn't know if he felt that way towards me just yet, so I didn't say it. I stood there until I couldn't see him anymore. Then I made my way inside to the shop with a happy smile on my face.

"You're late, Sauli." My mom said as I got inside and closed the door.

"I'm sorry, Mom... I didn't mean to. But I didn't realize it was so late already, because we were watching the stars with Adam."

"So, did you have fun? And did you get to know him better?"

"I did have fun. And about that... I didn't get to know him better..."

"Oh. Then why that over-happy smile on your face?" She asked, smiling a bit.

"I... I and Adam kissed..." I said, blushing.

"You did what?"

"We... We kissed... Just a moment ago. Before I came in."

"Do you love him?"

"I... Yes, Mom. I do love him."

"I'm so happy for you, Honey. But does he love you back?"

"I... I'm not sure yet... But he was the one who kissed me, so... I think he does love me back."

"That's great, Honey." She said and came to hug me tightly. I hugged her back.

"I think I'll go to bed early tonight. I'll see you tomorrow, Mom. Good night." I said to her after a while, pulling away from the hug.

"Okay, Sweetie. Good night." She said and let me go. I made my way into my bedroom and laid down to the bed, the over-happy smile making it's way to my face again. I laid there awake for a while before starting to fall asleep. _Good night, Adam... I love you... _Were my last thoughts before sleep overtook my mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Adam's POV**

"Good night, Adam..." Sauli said quietly as I was already walking away. _I just want to turn around and go back to him and hug and kiss him all night. But sadly, I can't. He has to go home and so do I. We have to go to sleep in separate places and it's probably gonna be hard for me to fall asleep. Because I now know that he likes me. And I couldn't be with him for more than a few hours after he told me that. I probably sound pathetic, but I'm in love with him and I want to be with him as much as possible. I just really wish that he would be able to come and see me tomorrow... _I thought while slowly making my way towards the castle.

Just as I was about to turn from a corner, I stopped and turned around to look at the shop, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. And I turned around just in time to see him turn around and head inside. _He had been staring at me the whole time? Why? Wait a second... Maybe he wanted me to turn around and go back to him. Maybe he is in love with me just as much as I'm in love with him. No... It can't be... It just can't be. _I turned around and started walking home again. It took me a lot longer to get home than normally, because I was so lost in thought that I almost bumped into a wall at least three times.

Once I finally got home, I told my parents that I was gonna go to bed early. Then I made my way up the stairs and into my room and changed into my pyjamas and went to bed, intending to fall asleep. But just as I predicted, I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned for a few hours before giving up on falling asleep. I sat up with a sigh, running my fingers through my slightly dishevelled hair. After a while, I slowly got up and went to put on some clothes so that I would be able to go outside. I put on a long-sleeved shirt and kept my pyjama pants, since they were the warmest pants I currently have. Then, I took my shoes, but didn't put them on yet and tiptoed to the front doors of the castle.

Just as I was about to open the heavy front door, my dog Shadow came running down the stairs, wagging his tail like crazy. He failed on stopping next to me on the just-cleaned floor and would have hit the door if I hadn't grabbed his collar to stop him. As he regained his footing, he looked up at me and almost barked. But I silenced him with one stern look. "Be quiet, Shadow. I'm trying to sneak out here." I whispered, turning my attention back to the door. I slowly opened the door and sneaked out.

Right before I closed the door, Shadow walked out and stopped beside me, looking up at me with his brown eyes.

"...Okay. You can come with me. Just be quiet." I said quietly, walking down the massive stairs and going into the garden with Shadow right beside me. I couldn't go out through the gates, because the guards would never let me out this late at night. So I had to go into the garden and go through a small hole in the fence, which I found many years ago.

Soon, I got there and crawled through the small hole. _I'm starting to get too big for this... _I thought while brushing the dirt from my clothes, being the prince I am, before continuing my way towards the shop and to Sauli.

And it didn't take long for me to get there. There were no lights on, so Sauli's mom had seemingly gone to bed too. I quietly made my way to the front door and almost knocked, but froze right before my hand touched the door. _I can't just knock the door! Sauli's mom would surely wake up! And she might not let me in..._ I thought, taking a step back from the door. Then, I started to walk around the house quietly, looking in from every window, trying to find Sauli's room.

The fourth window I peeked through was the right one. I saw Sauli laying on his bed with a white ball of fur curled up next to him. I couldn't see if he was sleeping or not, so I lightly tapped the window with one finger. Sauli sat straight up on the bed as he heard the tap.

"Who... Who's there?" He asked, sounding a bit scared as he got up from the bed. The window wasn't closed, so I could easily hear what he said.

"It's me, Adam." I said with a small smile, looking in from the slightly-open window.

"Hi. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Sauli asked, walking to the window and opening it fully.

"I'm here, because I couldn't fall asleep..." I confessed, blushing a bit. Because the only reason why I couldn't fall asleep was that he wasn't there. He saw me blushing as he lit a candle and set it down to the table next to the window.

"Oh. Would you like to come in? It's rather cold in there."

"Yes, I would. Besides, I'm wearing only a long-sleeved and my pyjama pants..." I said as he helped me in. Then, as a reminder that I hadn't come here alone, Shadow whined quietly from outside the window.

"What was that?" Sauli asked, turning to look at me.

"Oh. It was my dog, Shadow. He followed me here. Would it be okay if he'd come in too? I wouldn't like to leave him out alone."

"Sure. Let's just hope that he'll get along with Stella."

"Okay. Shadow, come here." I said to Shadow and he jumped in with no problem at all.

"And who's Stella?" I asked, petting Shadow's head softly.

"She's my cat. She's still probably sleeping on the bed." He said and turned to look at the bed where the white furball was laying with her eyes half-closed even though Shadow's nose was only inches away from hers.

"They seem to get along quite well." Sauli said with a smile, sitting down to the bed.

"They do." I said and sat down next to him.

"So, since you're here, what would you like to do? Because I can't sleep either." _Wait, what? He can't sleep either? Wonder why..._

"I don't know. Your bed looks comfy, though..." I said with a yawn. I usually never stayed up this late, so I was really sleepy.

"Okay. We can try to go to sleep." He said with a soft smile and laid down after moving Stella to the floor. I laid down too after pushing Shadow to the floor, since he had jumped up to the bed to get closer to Stella. As I laid down, Sauli snuggled closer to me and kissed my cheek softly. I smiled softly and pulled him even closer to me. He leaned his head to my chest, noticing that I had a shirt on.

"You won't be needing this." He said, playing with the hem of my shirt.

"Yes, Sir." I said with a grin and sat up, taking off my shirt. He didn't have a shirt on either, so it probably was warm enough in here. Sauli chuckled and pulled me back down as I had taken off my shirt and dropped it to the floor next to Shadow and Stella. I laid down with a smile and pulled him into a hug. He leaned his head to my chest again and rubbed his cheek against it with a smile.

"Your skin is so soft." He whispered softly, drawing random patterns to my chest with his fingers. I shivered at the touch and closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. Though after a while, I yawned widely again.

"Let's get some sleep. You look tired." He whispered, kissing my cheek. Then he snuggled closer to me and put his arms around me, pulling me closer to him.

"Sounds good..." I mumbled with another yawn. My eyes barely stayed open as I kissed his forehead softly.

"Sweet dreams, Honey. See you in the morning." He said as my eyes fell closed and I let sleep take over my mind and body.

Next morning, I woke up to the sun shining on my face. I yawned and tried to stretch, but found that it was impossible, because I had two strong arms around me and someone leaning his head to my chest. I looked down to see who it was. I happy smile made it's way to my way as I recognized him. _It's Sauli. So I did get up and come here last night. I'm glad that I did, though. I slept so well. Being with him is all it took for me to fall asleep._ I thought while hugging him close softly, careful not to wake him up. Though I either failed at that or he was already awake, because he slowly opened his eyes and looked at me with a soft smile.

"Morning." He said and kissed my chest softly. I shivered and blushed a bit, trying to hide it by kissing the top of his head.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" I asked as I hugged him softly.

"Yes, I did. How about you?"

"I slept better than ever." I said and kissed him softly, since he had turned to look at me. He kissed me back, putting his arms around my neck. I smiled into the kiss and deepened it a bit. He moved to straddle me, deepening the kiss even more. _God, he's talented with that mouth of his..._ I thought while trying to suppress a moan as Sauli licked my lower lip.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and someone, probably Sauli's mom, said something in Finnish. Or at least that's what I think it was. Sauli broke the kiss and answered his mom with a slightly annoyed tone, turning to look at the door. I just laid there quietly with a small smile, playing with Sauli's hair softly. Sauli's mom seemed satisfied with whatever answer Sauli gave her and walked away from the door.

"My mom sure picked the best moment to come and tell me to get up and to get to work." He sighed and laid his head down to my chest again.

"What kind of work do you need to do?" I asked and kissed the top of his head softly.

"Be the cashier and put stuff to the shelves when there are no customers around. And clean the floors of the shop too. Lots of things to do. I don't think I can spend time with you today." He said, sounding a bit sad.

"I think I know what we're gonna do. I'm gonna help you at the shop today and then maybe you will get some free time at the evening."

"You don't have to, Adam. Though it'd be nice. Cleaning the floors alone takes forever."

"Okay. It's decided. I'll help you. Is it gonna be okay with your mom?"

"Yeah. I guess." Sauli said and got up, going to put on a T-shirt.

"Oh, right. Could I borrow your other pants? Because I have only these." I said, pointing at my pyjama pants.

"Yeah, sure. There." He said and threw the pants to me. They ended up on my face.

"Sorry. I wasn't aiming at your face." He said with a chuckle as I took the pants away from my face, sitting up.

"It's okay. It's not everyday that I get pants thrown at me. New experiences every day." I said and chuckled, changing into Sauli's pants before getting up.

"Shall we go? My mom should have already made breakfast."

"Yep. Let's go." I said and followed him into the kitchen. And there Sauli's mom was, in front of the stove, cooking something.

"What's for breakfast today, mom?" Sauli asked as he sat down to one of the chairs and gestured me to sit down to the chair next to his. I smiled and sat down, taking his hand and holding it under the table.

"Porridge." She said and turned around with two platefuls of porridge. "And who is this?" She asked with a smile, looking at me.

"I'm Adam. The prince. Pleasure to meet you." I said politely, bowing a bit without getting up. I didn't want to let go of Sauli's hand.

"Nice to finally meet you. I've heard about you from Sauli." She said and smiled, setting the plates to the table in front of us. "When did you actually come here? I don't think I saw you come in from the door."

"Yeah. About that. He didn't come in from the door at all. He came here last night when you were already sleeping. I let him in through my window." Sauli explained, starting to eat his porridge.

"Oh. Did he sleep here?" She asked, sitting down to one of the chairs with a plateful of porridge for herself. I and Sauli just nodded, since we both had our mouths full of porridge.

"Okay. So, did you two sleep well?"

"We did. Or at least I did." I said with a smile, turning to look at Sauli with a smile.

"I did too." Sauli said quickly before taking another spoonful of porridge. He seemed to be hungry. _Maybe it's because he actually works. Unlike me. I'm super-lazy compared to him. I just sit around all day. Well, at least I'll be working today. Though I have to go and tell my parents where I am, so that they won't freak out when they notice that I haven't been home all night._ I thought while eating the rest of my porridge, listening to Sauli and his mom talk about something. I wasn't quite concentrating to them, so I had no idea what they were talking about.

After Sauli was done with eating, we went into the shop-part of the house. And it was massive. Okay, maybe it was the same size as before, but they have rearranged the shelves and all. And now there's so much more room for costumers to move around. A huge change to how this was before.

"This place looks so much better now than it did before you moved here." I said, picking up an orange that had fallen to the floor and set it back to the basket with the other oranges.

"Thanks. I rearranged this. My mom told me I can arrange the shelves the way I want. And so far, it's been working perfectly. The costumers haven't been complaining about the lack of space. Which they did a lot before the rearrangement."

"I know. It wasn't very practical before. You did a good job." I said and softly petted Sauli's head with a smile on my face. He smiled back and kissed my lips softly before going to wipe the dust from the shelves.

"When does this shop open?" I asked, just standing there, not knowing what I should do.

"In about an hour and a half. Why?"

"I need to go to tell my parents where I am before they freak out when they notice that I haven't been home all night."

"Oh. You can go do that. I'll stay here and start to put the new groceries to the shelves once they arrive."

"Good. I'll be back as soon as possible." I said before walking out from the shop's door and heading towards the castle. It took me about an hour to get there, explain to my parents what I was gonna do today and then walk back to the shop, because my parents had thousands of questions to ask me about why I left outside in the middle of the night.

"I'm back. What do you want me to do?" I asked from Sauli as I entered the shop.

"Could you move those empty boxes outside?" He said, pointing at a pile of empty boxes in the corner of the shop.

"Okay." I said and started carrying the boxes outside one by one. After a short while, all of the boxes were in a neat pile on the front yard, near the gate.

"The boxes are now there, next to the gate. What now?" I asked with a smile, going to see what Sauli was doing. He was still putting the groceries to the shelves.

"If you could empty that box. There should be only animal food in there. Fodder and chicken feed and so on. They're over there." He said, first pointing at the box and then at the large, wooden boxes near the back wall of the shop.

"Yes, Sir." I said and picked up the box, going to empty it into the wooden boxes.

About an hour later, as the first costumer walked in, I was on all fours in the back corner of the shop, washing the floor. As the costumer passed me, he looked at me with an raised eyebrow, a bit confused. Since I was the prince, and here I was, cleaning the floor of the local shop. Though he didn't say anything. He just continued walking and went to find whatever he needed.

By the time when the shop closed, I had got quite many confused looks from the costumers, since they all recognized me. Sauli seemed to find it quite funny, since he chuckled every time he noticed that a costumer looked at me confusedly.

"So, is there still something we need to do or are we free to go and do whatever we want now?" I asked, sitting down to one of the chairs next to the back wall of the shop.

"Not today. It's not Friday, so we don't have to throw away all the things that might go bad during the weekend."

"Okay. So, we're free to go?"

"Yep. What would you like to do?" He said and smiled as we walked out from the shop.

"How about we go to the beach to just spend time together with no disturbance?"

"Sounds good. But how are we gonna get there? It's too far to walk there."

"We can walk to the castle and take horses. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good." Sauli said with a smile.

"Okay. It's decided. Let's go." I said as we started walking towards the castle. After only a few steps, Sauli stopped.

"What is it?"

"I just realised that I don't have to borrow one of your horses. I can take mine. Let's go get him now. He's on the backyard." Sauli said and took my hand, starting to pull me back towards the shop. Once we got to the backyard, he stopped and let go of my hand. And there was a light-brown horse with a black mane and tail, calmly munching on some grass.

"Hi, Coffee. You're gonna get to go for a long walk today." Sauli said, petting Coffee's back softly. Coffee neighed happily and then noticed me, staring at me for a while before walking closer to me curiously. As he was right in front of me, he pressed his warm nose into my hair, sniffing it a bit b before letting out a warm breath, making my hair slightly damp. Then he pulled away and rubbed his nose against my cheek softly. _He's definitely one of the sweetest horses I've ever met._ I thought while softly petting his neck a bit. He let out a small sound of happiness. Then, he pulled away, nudging me a bit softly.

"He seems to like you." Sauli said with a smile, looking at me and Coffee.

"He's really nice. The sweetest horse I've ever met."

"Yep. So, shall we go?"

"Yeah. Let's go. I have to go and get Blue."

"Blue? Girl or boy?"

"Blue's my lovely little girl. Though she's not that small anymore." I said with a chuckle as we started walking towards the castle. And Coffee followed Sauli kindly. He didn't need a leash or anything. And even when he stopped to sniff something or to munch on some grass, he didn't let us get far before catching up with us again.

In about 20 minutes, we made it through the gates of the castle.

"I'll wait here in the garden with Coffee. You go get Blue and then meet us here."

"Okay." I said and headed to the stables to get Blue. She was super-happy to see me. And when she smelled Coffee's scent in my hair, she got interested and a bit confused. She nudged my hair a bit and neighed quietly.

"It's okay, Blue. You're still my little girl. Let's go." I said and petted her softly before taking her outside and leading her into the garden to meet Sauli and Coffee. As we got closer to them, she pretty much hid behind my back. Or tried to, since she was a big horse now. Coffee looked up from Sauli and turned to look at Blue with interest. He looked at her for a while before slowly walking closer to us. Then he stopped in front of me, since I was standing in between him and Blue. I moved away from between them and went to sit down to the ground next to Sauli. Coffee sniffed Blue and then neighed softly, nudging Blue's white mane carefully. Blue seemed to get over her fears and neighed happily, pressing her nose into Coffee's mane.

"They seem to like each other." I said, leaning my head to Sauli's shoulder.

"Yes, they do. And it's good." Sauli said with a smile, hugging me softly.

"It is. So, shall we go?"

"Yep. Let's go." Sauli said and stood up, helping me up too.

Then we both got our horses and got to their backs, starting to make our way to the beach. We didn't hurry at all, so it took us about an hour and a half to get there. And just as I had guessed, there was no one there. We'd get to be all alone. I smiled a bit as we jumped down from our horses, letting them stroll around on the beach freely. Since we both knew that they would come back. We both walked over to the waterline and sat down near it so that the waves couldn't reach us.

"I've never seen the ocean from this close before." Sauli said after a while, staring at the horizon.

"You haven't? Then it's good that we came here. This is one of my favorite places. It's so quiet and peaceful here, because other people rarely come here." I said, laying down to the sand on my back. The clouds were slowly moving on the sky, covering the sun from time to time. Sauli soon laid down too, using my belly as a pillow. I reached down and ran my fingers through his soft hair.

"I like your hair. It's so soft." I said with a smile, playing with his hair softly. He turned to look at me, smiling. There was an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't quite place. _What could it be? He looks so happy now. And he only smiles like that when I'm around. And he only looks at me like that. What am I missing here?_ I thought while still stroking his hair softly. He just kept looking at me with that... That smile on his face. And I still had no clue what was the emotion that was so visible on his eyes right now. After a while of just looking at me, he yawned softly, covering his mouth with his hand as he did so. I could see that he was tired and that he was trying to stay awake. His eyes started to close even though he tried to keep them open.

"You can fall asleep. You don't have to try to stay awake for me. I'm happy as long as you're here. Sleep now." I said softly, stroking his cheek a bit. He let his eyes fall closed and soon he fell asleep with a smile on his face. I just laid there, playing with his hair and enjoying the feeling of getting to be close to him. _He's so cute. How can I be so lucky to find someone like him who really likes me? Someone that wants to be with me, because he thinks I'm nice, and not because of the fact that I'm the prince and I have tons of money. Because those people exist too. Many people have pretented to like me, but what they really have wanted is to get to use my money. And I hate them. They're selfish and when they realise that they're not gonna get what they want, they leave you alone with a broken heart, if the relationship got that far. If not, then you're just very angry and sad._

After a while, he pulled me away from my thoughts by starting to mumble something in his sleep. I stopped moving my hand and listened to what he was staying. "I... I love you, Adam..." He mumbled quietly and I almost didn't hear what he said, because waves were hitting the shore. But I did hear him. _Oh my god... He loves me? I... What should I do now? Should I pretend that I didn't hear that or... Should I let him know that I know about his feelings? I don't know!_ I was getting frustrated. Because I had no clue what I should do. And then, I didn't have time to think about what to do, because he started to wake up. After a while, he opened his eyes and looked at me. I probably still had the shocked look on my face, because he looked worried.

"Adam? What is it? What happened? You look so shocked." He asked as he sat up and put his hand to my cheek, stroking it with his thumb softly.

"I... You just..." _Coherent sentences, where are you when you're needed?_ My brain was this mush of happiness, confusion and love.

"What? Did I do something wrong? Oh, please don't tell me I was talking in my sleep again..." He asked, looking a bit worried still.

"Yes, you did..." I said, still trying to remember how to form proper sentences.

"Oh my god! What did I say?"

"You... You said that you... Love me..." I whispered quietly. I didn't know what he would say.

"Oh my god... Adam, I'm so sorry..." He said and looked down at his hands.

"Hey.. There's nothing to be sorry about. Come on, look at me..." I said and softly pushed his chin up a bit to make him look at me. He had tears in his eyes and seeing him like that just broke my heart a bit.

"It's okay... Don't cry.." I said, wiping away the tears that escaped his eyes and slid down his smooth cheek.

"I love you too." I finally said and kissed his lips softly and lovingly. I felt that more tears slid down his cheeks, so I softly wiped them away without breaking the kiss.

After a while, he pulled away from the kiss, looking at me with slight confusion on his face.

"You... Love me?" He asked, disbelief in his voice.

"Yes. I love you. More than anything." I said and pulled him into a sweet, loving kiss again. This time, he kissed back with so much love that I felt overwhelmed and that my heart would explode any minute because I love this man so much.

Once the kiss was over, since we both had to breathe, even though we didn't want to, we cuddled up together near the waves to watch the setting sun, since it had just started to sink into the ocean.

"This is so beautiful." Sauli said after a while, his eyes glued to the setting sun.

"Yes, it is." I said, though I wasn't even looking at the sun. I was looking at Sauli. I guess that he felt my stare, because he turned to look at me.

"You're not even looking at the sunset." He said with a small smile.

"I know. That's not what I was talking about." I said and smiled back to him.

"Then what were you talking about?"

"You." I simply said and hugged him tightly. He blushed a bit and hugged me back, kissing my cheek softly.

Once the sun had set, Sauli sat up and stretched a bit.

"We should head back soon. It's getting late." He said before he whistled and gestured Coffee to come back to him. And Coffee did. Immediately as he heard the whistle, he turned to look at our direction and then walked to us. And I didn't even have to tell Blue to come back too, because she followed Coffee.

"Yeah. Good idea." I said and stood up.

"Help me up?" He asked from me with a smile. I smiled back and took his hand, pulling him up too.

"By the way, before we go, can we have a race? Just for fun and to see which one is faster, Coffee or Blue." Sauli said with a grin.

"Sure. Starting line is here." I said and drew a line to the sand.

"And finish line is there. If you pass that rock before I do, you win." I said, pointing at a huge rock by the waterline.

"Okay. Sounds fair." Sauli said and got to Coffee's back. I got to Blue's back too and turned to look at Sauli with a smirk.

"Ready?" I asked, petting Blue's back softly.

"Whenever you are." Sauli said, smirking too.

"Okay. One, two, three, go." I said and then I and Blue dashed ahead with Sauli and Coffee right behind us. When we were halfway there, Sauli and Coffee started to catch up with us and soon, before I could react, they had dashed ahead of us and in no time passed the finish line. Immediately after they passed the rock, Coffee stopped and Sauli jumped down from his back.

"Ha! I won!" He said with a happy grin as I passed the finish line too.

"Yes, you did. Are you happy now?" I asked, jumping down from Blue's back too.

"Yes. Very. Shall we head home now?"

"Yep. Let's go." I said and got back to Blue's back. Sauli got to Coffee's back too and then we headed back towards the city. We talked about random things on our way back to the town.

Once we got there, Sauli took Coffee back to the backyard and then walked back to the front door of the shop.

"Should I go and get Shadow so that he wouldn't be here all night?" He asked and opened the door.

"No need to go and get him. Shadow! Come here!" I said and whistled and Shadow immediately came running from Sauli's bedroom.

"Hi there. Did you miss me? And did you have fun with Stella?" I asked, since he was pretty much covered in white cat hair. He barked a few times as an answer and wagged his tail happily.

"Good. Now, we're gonna go home. But first..." I said and smiled before pulling Sauli into a deep, loving kiss. He seemed a bit surprised at first, but then kissed me back and pushed me away from the doorway and outside, closing the door behind us. Mostly to prevent his mom from seeing us kissing like this. He put his arms around my neck and pulled me close to him. I smiled into the kiss and out my arms around his waist, holding him tight. After a while, he had to break the kiss for breath, so he nuzzled me softly.

"I love you." He whispered softy, kissing my cheek.

"I love you too." I said and smiled, hugging him close.

"I really should go inside now." Sauli said after a while, pulling away from the hug with a slightly sad look on his face. I could see that he didn't want to let go of me at all.

"I know, Love. I don't want to go either. But we'll see each other tomorrow again. If you don't have time to come and see me, then I'll show up here at some point. I promise." I said and stroked his cheek softly. The sad look on his face soon turned to a warm, loving smile.

"Okay..." He said quietly, hugging me softly.

"See you tomorrow, Love." I said and gave him a quick, sweet kiss before turning around and heading home with Shadow and Blue following me.

"See you tomorrow..." Sauli said softly as I walked through the gate of the shop.

After a while, as I was about to turn from the same corner as last night, I turned around and saw that he was still standing there, looking at me. I waved at him and sent him a flying kiss, hoping that he could see it. According to the smile that made it's way to his face, he did see it. I smiled softly to him before turning around and continued my way to the castle.

Once I got there, I made my way straight into my bedroom after taking Blue into the stable. I laid there for a while, smiling as I thought about everything that happened today. _I love you, Sauli, my Love... Good night and see you tomorrow..._ And with that, I fell asleep and curled up around my pillow, hugging it tightly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sauli's POV**

"See you tomorrow..." I said softly as Adam walked through the gate and out from the yard. Then I just stood there, staring after Adam, hoping that he'd turn around, because I wanted to see his smile one more time before going inside. After a while, just as he was about to turn from a corner, he stopped and turned around, looking at me straight into my eyes. He waved at me and then sent me a flying kiss and I felt like I could melt right there, because I was so happy and so in love. Then he smiled softly to me before he turned around and headed into the castle. I still stood there for a while longer, looking to where Adam had been just a while ago.

Then, as a cold wind decided to hit me, I started to shiver and so I just had to go inside and to get something warm to drink. Then, after getting some warm milk, I went into my room and just sat down to the bed. And finally, after drinking the milk, I fell to sleep.

And during the next month, everything was so perfect. We were happy and so in love and spent almost every minute of every day together. But all good things have to come to an end. And that's exactly what happened.

Because, on one day, as I was going to buy some vegetables from the main square, I saw Adam standing there, next to one of the houses. And then, as I was about to walk to him, some blonde guy appeared out of nowhere and walked to Adam. And as I saw that they started talking, I kind-of hid behind a nearby corner and had a clear view at Adam and the other guy without them being able to see me. And then, they just continued talking. No big deal.

But then, as I just happened to look down at the cat that walked past me for just a short while and then looked back at Adam and the guy, they were kissing. Like, mouth-to-mouth and all. I just stood there and stared at them with wide eyes for a long time. _How could he..? I thought he loved me... Or am I not enough for him..? Am I too boring for him...?_ I felt tears well up in my eyes as I watched Adam and the other guy kiss rather passionately.

And then, after a while, I just couldn't take it anymore. I turned around and stormed away, not even caring that I knocked over a barrel and that Adam most likely heard it. I just ran straight home and as I got the front door closed, I leaned back to it and then slowly sat down to the floor and buried my face into my hands, finally letting the tears fall.

But I didn't get to be alone for long as my mom walked into the kitchen from the shop area.

"Oh. You're back already. Did you buy the vegetables?" She then asked, but didn't look at me properly yet, so she didn't notice that something was wrong. And as I didn't say anything, she looked at me.

"Sauli, Honey.. Is everything okay?" She then asked softly while walking to me and then sitting down next to me. I again just shook my head, because I didn't trust my voice right now. Mom then put her arm around my shoulder and hugged me close.

"Honey.. What's wrong? Did something happen at the main square?" She then asked while rubbing my back soothingly. I finally looked up at her and wiped my tears away only to feel more falling down my cheeks.

"Sweetie, please. Tell me." Mom whispered softly as she looked at me into my eyes.

"I.. I saw Adam kiss...some other guy.." I finally managed to say between the sobs.

"Honey.. I'm sure that he didn't want to kiss the guy. He loves you too much to be cheating on you." She said, trying to comfort me.

"But... He was kissing back.. He didn't even try to break the kiss..." I said quietly and looked down at my hands.

"Honey.. If he didn't want to kiss the other guy, he will show up in here as soon as he realizes that you saw what happened." She said softly as she pushed my chin up a bit and then wiped my tears away.

"But what if he doesn't love me anymore.. What if I'm not enough for him anymore.."

"Then it's his loss. Because you are the sweetest guy in the whole world. Try to be positive, okay, Honey? I'm sure that he'll come here soon." Mom said softly and stroked my hair softly. I didn't say anything anymore as I started sobbing even more.

Then, after a while, I got up from the floor and started to walk towards my room. But right then, someone knocked on the door. My mom then got up and almost opened the door, but I stopped her.

"Mom. If it's Adam, I'm not at home, okay?" I said quietly so that whoever was behind the door couldn't hear it. Mom just nodded and then waited for me to get into my room before she opened the door.

Then, as I got into my room, I closed the door and leaned to it and then sat down to the floor. I could hear my mom open the door and then, as I heard Adam's voice, I started sobbing again and then covered my ears with my hands, because I couldn't stand hearing his voice right now. Then, I just stayed in my room for the rest of the day, mostly just laying on my bed and crying.


	5. Chapter 5

The second I saw Sauli staring at me with tears in his eyes, I froze. And before I could do anything else, Sauli turned around and ran away. Then, I took a while for me to manage to push away the guy who was kissing me.

And finally as I got him pushed away, I ran after Sauli and left the guy there. And finally as I got to the shop, I was panting, because I had ran all the way here from the main square. Then, after catching my breath, I knocked on the door. It took a while until Sauli's mom opened the door.

"Is Sauli here?" I asked as soon as she opened the door. I didn't care about greetings or anything like that now.

"No. he's not here. He left somewhere a while ago." She answered and folded her arms over her chest. I sighed. Now I'd have to find him.

"Do you know where he might be and when he might be coming back?"

"No. He didn't say anything. He just left." She said, sounding a bit like she didn't even want me to be here.

"Oh. Could I come in to wait for him to come back?"

"No. I was just about to start cleaning and you'd just be on the way."

"I can help you." I then offered. I was starting to have the feeling that she didn't want me in there, because Sauli actually was in there.

"Adam. Just go home. Even if Sauli was here, I don't think he'd want to talk to you now. Or even see you." She said while pushing me out from the door. I looked at her with pleading eyes and the look on her face softened a bit.

"Don't look so sad, Adam. I'll talk to him when I see him for the next time. I promise. But now, go home and think of what you'll say to him when he will let you see him again." She said and patted my shoulder softly.

"...Okay. I'll go. But I'll come back tomorrow. And when you see him the next time, tell him that I'm sorry, would you?"

"I can do that. But I'm sure that he really wants to hear it from you and not from me."

"I know. But still, I want him to at least know that I'm sorry. And thank you. I'll be going now." I then said before turning around and starting to walk back to the castle.

And as I got there, I just walked straight into my room, ignoring the fact that we had guests and that I was supposed to spend time with them. But I just didn't feel like being social and cheery right now. Because I wasn't happy and I also didn't want to see my cousin, 'cause this whole mess was his fault. And as I got into my room, I just crawled under the blankets. I just wanted to hide from the world and think in peace. But I didn't get to be alone for long as someone knocked on my door.

"Go away." I said a bit angrily, not caring who was behind the door. But whoever it was didn't do as I wanted and opened the door and walked into the room.

"Adam, Sweetie. What's wrong? Alex said that you just left him at the main square and ran away. Why did you do that? Alex's your favorite cousin." My mom then asked as she closed the door and came to sit down to my bed. I just crawled further away from her and pulled the blankets tighter around me. I really didn't feel like talking to anyone else but Sauli now.

"Sweetie, tell me. Please. You're my son and so I want to know what's wrong." She then said and placed her hand on my back and rubbed it softly.

"Everything's wrong." I just mumbled against the pillow.

"Everything? What do you mean with everything?" She asked, sounding confused.

"Everything means everything, Mom. And besides, Alex is not my favorite cousin anymore. I don't wanna see him anymore, because I kinda don't want to punch him on the face." I then said with an angry tone on voice.

"Punch him? Why? What did he do?" Mom asked while still rubbing my back softly, since, over the years, she has noticed that it helped me calm down.

"He kissed me. Right in front of everyone at the main square." I said as I finally raised the blanket a bit and looked at my mom.

"And? We've all known that he's had a crush on you for years already."

"And Sauli saw it." I said and hid under the blanket again to hide the tears were now threatening to start falling down my cheeks.

"Oh. How is he now? Did you tell him what really happened?" She then asked, sounding worried now. She liked Sauli and cared about him.

"I don't know. I didn't get to see him. Because his mom said that he wasn't at home and wouldn't even let me in the house. Though I did get the feeling that Sauli was actually in the house and that's why she didn't want to let me in. And so, I left and came here. Though I did say that I'd come back tomorrow." I said, again pulling the blanket around me tighter.

"Oh. I can tell Alex to stay away from your room if you want. Because he was already about to come here. He's worried about you, you know."

"I knew he would be. And he can be worried all he wants. I don't care. Because this mess is all his fault." I just said, sounding angry again.

"Okay. I'll tell him that you want to be alone. But you're gonna have to tell him what he did wrong eventually, or he will most likely kiss you again."

"Okay.. I'll tell him." I said with a quiet groan. I really didn't want to talk to him. "Just give me a few hours. I need to calm down. Even though I don't like him, I still don't wanna punch him."

"Okay. See you at dinner. It's in about two hours. Tell him after that, okay?" Mom then said as she got up from the bed.

"I will. As much as I don't want to, I will." I just mumbled. Mom then patted my back softly before walking out from the room and leaving my alone with my thoughts. And then, I just laid there under the blanket, trying to figure out a good way to tell Sauli what really happened and to apologize to him.

Then, as the few hours had passed and it was almost dinner time, one of the maids knocked on the door.

"Prince Adam. Dinner will be served in ten minutes." She said kindly, sounding like she knew the situation I was in right now.

"Okay. Thanks." I answered politely and threw the blanket aside. Then, I just sat there for the ten minutes before getting up, fixing my hair a bit and then heading into the dining room. Then, I went to sit down to the other side of the table from Alex and started eating after the maids had served the food. And during the whole dinner, I didn't look up from my plate, because I could feel Alex's eyes on me. I didn't want to see him just yet.

Then, as we had all eaten dinner and the maids had collected the plates, I got up and then walked towards the living room.

"I need to talk to you." I then said as I passed Alex. I heard Alex get up from his chair and then follow me into the living room. And as we got there, I closed the door after him and he turned to look at me.

"What is it, Adam?" He then asked, looking worried.

"Why did you kiss me today?" I just asked from him and looked at him into his eyes. Alex then blushed a bit because of my question.

"I.. Uhh.." He then said, clearly not knowing what to say to me.

"Yes?" I just asked, looking at him a bit angrily.

"I kissed you because I like you.." He then said, looking a bit guilty as he probably realized that he did something wrong.

"Yes, I know that. But did it maybe cross your mind that I might already have a boyfriend?" I then asked and poked Alex's chest with my finger.

"No.. It didn't. I'm sorry, Adam. But what does your boyfriend have to do with this?"

"He saw it when you kissed me. And now he won't even talk to me."

"...Oh."

"Yep. Oh. He thinks I'm cheating on him with you. You should really think before you do something like that, you know."

"I'm sorry, Adam.. I shouldn't have done it." Alex said, looking apologetic.

"Damn right you shouldn't have. Because now I have to find a way to get him to talk to me or to even listen to me. And knowing him, it's not gonna be easy." I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

"I.. Is there anything I can do to help?" Alex then asked a bit carefully, seeing that I was still angry at him.

"No. There's nothing you can do. I need to figure this out on my own. It would be best if you'd let me be. I really need to think." I then said and didn't even wait for Alex's answer. I just headed straight upstairs and into my room.

I laid awake on my bed for almost the whole night, just thinking. And eventually as I fell to sleep, I was in the middle of preparing a whole speech I would say to Sauli to hopefully make everything okay again.

And as I woke up in the morning, it was really late already. Like, almost midday or something. I sat up, still feeling like I was half-asleep. But as soon as I remembered why I had stayed up so late last night, I was awake immediately. I hurriedly got out of bed and went to change out of the pyjamas I was wearing at the moment.

Once I was done with that, I walked straight downstairs, took an apple from the kitchen and then headed towards the shop while munching on the apple and trying the remember the speech I prepared last night.

Eventually, as I got closer to the shop, I was that Sauli was just carrying some boxes to the front yard. And then, as soon as he saw me, he turned around and quickly went back into the shop-part of the building. I sighed a bit sadly and decided to wait until midday, since that was when the shop opened. And no one came there right after it opened, so I'd get to talk to Sauli alone.

So, I then just sat down to the ground outside the gate that lead to the shop's yard and waited for the hour or so. Then, once I saw Sauli open the door of the shop and leave it like that, I got up and walked into the building.

And as soon as Sauli saw me, he turned around and pretended that he was doing something and also that he hadn't see me. But I just walked to the counter, where Sauli was, after taking an apple that I would buy. Just so Sauli would have to talk to me.

As I got to the counter and placed the apple on it, Sauli turned to look at me, but didn't say anything. He just looked at me with a kind of sad and hurt expression.

"I'm sorry. But can you please talk to me? I miss you already.." I said with a sad tone and looked at Sauli into his eyes.

"Okay. I'll talk to you. Who was he?" Sauli asked rather sternly even though he still had that hurt look in his eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Sauli's POV

I groaned as I saw Adam walk into the shop. I didn't want to see him now. Unless he was here to explain why he had kissed that guy. And so, I turned my back to him and pretended that I hadn't seen him.

But then, a while later, I heard a faint _Thud_ as something was placed on the counter. I slowly turned around and was face-to-face with Adam. I said nothing, but I knew I had a hurt and kind of sad look on my face.

"I'm sorry. But can you please talk to me? I miss you already.." Adam said sadly and looked at me straight into my eyes.

"Okay. I'll talk to you. Who was he?" I asked sternly and looked at Adam straight back into his eyes.

"You weren't supposed to see it.." Adam said quietly, still looking at me apologetically.

"What?! I wasn't supposed to see it, because then it would've been okay?! How can you think like that..?" I yelled, feeling tears welling up in my eyes again.

Adam's POV

I felt my heart drop as I saw the tears in Sauli's eyes.

"No! Shit, that didn't come out right... I shouldn't have started with that." I said in my defence and mentally facepalmed. Of course he would get the wrong idea if I started with that particular sentence.

"Can you let me explain what really happened? Without interrupting me even once?" I then asked and looked at Sauli with the best puppy dog eyes I could manage to make. I saw a small smile appear to Sauli's face and it looked like his heart could've just melted a little.

"Yes. Go ahead. I'll listen." He said with a hint of softness in his voice, which was a good sign.

I smiled and then started talking.

"First of all, I didn't kiss that guy. He kissed me. And even though it might've looked like I wasn't trying to push him away, I actually did try. Believe me, I did. I didn't want to kiss him, because I don't love him the way I love you." I smiled softly. "He is only a friend and a cousin to me. but that's not the main point here. The main point is that I would never cheat on you, because I love you more than anything. So, can you please forget that little incident? Please? I never wanted to hurt you." I finished my speech with the softest of pleads.

Sauli just stood there on the other side of the counter silently for a while. But then, as he seemed to have processed everything I just said, a smile made it's way to his face. And then, he walked around the counter and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Yes. We can forget about it. Since you didn't mean to do it." He said softly and held me close. I felt a happy smile make it's way to my face.

"Thank you, Love. Thank you." I whispered softly into his ear. "I already thought I was going to lose you..."

"You weren't, Adam. You weren't. Since that was what really happened." Sauli said and pulled away from the hug enough to be able to look at me into my eyes. I smiled softly and then pulled him into a sweet, loving kiss.

Though our kiss didn't last for as long as I wanted when the bell that was on the door chimed as someone stepped into the shop. Sauli immediately broke the kiss and walked back behind the counter, giving me a shrug and an apologetic smile.

"It's okay. I understand. Duty calls." I said, smiling kindly. "I'll stay here to help you with work though. If that's okay, of course."

"Of course it's okay. Means I get to spend time with you." Sauli said while going to arrange some things in the shelves. I smiled and then went to help him.

The hours passed quite fast and by the time Sauli closed the shop, we had shared a lot of loving looks and sweet kisses when there were no costumers in the shop. Sauli then arranged everything again so he could leave them for the night and then, once that was done, he led me into the house-part of the building without asking any questions from me. He probably was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to get me to go away tonight and so he didn't even try. And he was right. I would not leave him alone tonight.

Then, as we walked through the kitchen to get to Sauli's room, his mom saw me and looked surprised, yet happy and relieved at the same time. I waved at her with the hand that Sauli wasn't holding and smiled, letting her know that everything was okay again. She smiled back at me.

"Good night, Boys." She then said. We both said good night to her and then retreated into Sauli's bedroom.

And once there, we both laid down on Sauli's bed and I wrapped my arms around Sauli's slim body, pulling him close to me.

"I missed this so much.." I whispered softly and kissed Sauli's cheek.

"I missed this too. I missed you." Sauli cooed and smiled softly at me.

"I love you so much." I then said after a while as Sauli leaned his head to my chest and closed his eyes, looking a bit sleepy. Or a lot sleepy, actually.

"I love you too.." He mumbled sleepily against the fabric of my shirt while hugging me a bit closer still.

"Sleep now, my love." I whispered softly while stroking his hair soothingly. A small, soft smile made it's way to his face before he started to fall to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Adam's POV**

In the morning, I was pulled back to reality from my dreamland by soft kisses being planted on my bare chest. I smiled softly and relaxed, not opening my eyes just yet.

"Morning, Honey. I know you're awake." Sauli whispered into my ear softly then, his breath tickling my skin and making me shiver slightly.

I opened my eyes, and was met by his blue ones looking at me with love evident in them.

"Mmm.. Morning, Love." I cooed, pulling him into a kiss. He kissed back right away, and wrapped his arms around my neck, holding me as close as possible.

I soon had to break the kiss, though, because of the lack of oxygen. Sauli just laid his head on my chest and sighed in content.

"Let's go eat some breakfast.." I heard him mumble after some time, and felt him get up. I opened my eyes again and looked at him with a smile.

We both got up and got dressed before heading into the kitchen, finding bread and butter from the table. We ate what was offered, neither of us being picky.

"I think I should go home for the rest of the day. To see what's going on in there and all." I said while stroking Sauli's hair softly. We were sitting on their backyard, just enjoying the midday sun and the fact that it was Saturday, which meant Sauli didn't need to work at the shop today or tomorrow.

Sauli looked up at me for a while before saying anything. "Okay. Will you come back for the night?" He asked then, looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

"I will. I promise. I'm going now, Love. See you tonight." I said softly and gave him a quick, loving kiss before getting up and heading towards the castle. I felt his eyes on me for quite a while, which meant that he had gotten up and had followed me to the edge of shop's yard.

And so, just as I was about to turn from that one corner that would make it impossible for him to see me, I turned around and waved to him. He waved back, and without having to see it, I knew that he was smiling brightly.

Now that I knew he was happy, I didn't feel so bad for having to leave him alone for the rest of the day. I walked around the corner, soon getting to the market area. Even though it wasn't market day today, there was surprisingly many people gathered there. I walked closer to the crowd to find out what was so interesting.

And in the middle of them all, there was a man standing on top of a small pyramid built of five wooden boxes. He was talking something about the lord from the city next to being in here with his wife and daughter. _Huh. So, they're here, it seems. Wonder why, though. They rarely set their foot here._ I was a bit confused, but shrugged it off and continued walking home. Maybe my parents knew something about this.

As I got in through the gates, I saw a unfamiliar horse carriage in front of the stairs that led to the front doors.

_Maybe they're here, then. I still don't understand why, though._ I thought while walking up the stairs and through the doors, getting greeted by one of the butlers.

"Prince Adam. Your parents are waiting for you in the dining room with the guests. I recommend you to go there." He said politely, like always.

"Thank you. Go take a break." I said and gave him a kind smile before heading to the stairs to get into the dining room. And as I got there, I just walked right in without knocking, since I was the prince and I didn't have to do that.

"Adam, Sweetie, come and sit down. We were just about to start eating lunch. You arrived at perfect time." My mother said, gesturing me to sit down next to her.

I returned the smile and sat down between her and the wife of the neighbor town's lord. She gave me a polite nod, and I did the same, replying to her silent way of saying hello.

For the most of the dinner, the lord and my father discussed some boring business things. I didn't pay attention to what they were saying at all, so I had no clue on what they were talking about.

But some time later, my thoughts were disturbed by my mother's voice.

"Adam. I need to talk to you." She whispered into my ear. I gave her a nod, and whispered "Okay" into her ear. She got up then, and I did the same.

"Excuse us for a moment." She then said to the guests before pulling me out from the room and into the library.

"Do you know who they are?" She asked as soon as she got closed the library door behind us.

"They're the lord from the neighbor town and his family." I replied, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Yes. That's correct."

"Okay. And what's that gotta do with me?" I asked, clearly missing the point here.

"Well... Before you came home, they told us the main reason why they are here. And the reason is that they're daughter is just in the right age to get married. And they'd like you to be her husband. And don't say no right away!" She said quickly as I had already opened my mouth to say exactly that.

"And give me one good reason why I should marry that girl." I growled, not happy at all.

"It'd be a huge improvement in the relationship between our towns. Please, Adam. Think about it." She almost pleaded, but I didn't care.

"No. I'm not doing it. I have Sauli, and I would never do something like that to him. They can find some other man for her." Was all I said before walking out from the library and slamming the door shut.

I walked through the halls of the castle, making my way to the side door, which was the fastest way to get to the stables. And as I got there, the stable boy brought Blue to me without me even having to ask for him to do it.

I thanked him and then walked out with Blue following me. And then I just got to her back and started riding away from the castle and to Sauli. I would not stay in a place where they were trying to make me marry someone I didn't love or even know.

Finally, as I got to the shop, I tied Blue to the gate to keep her from running away and then walked to the door, knocking on it. And soon, Sauli's mom opened the door.

"Oh, hi, Adam. I thought you weren't coming back until the evening." She looked surprised, but also happy.

"I... Something came up. Is Sauli here?" I asked, trying not to sound as upset as I was so that she wouldn't get worried.

"Yeah. He's in his room. Come in." She said and I thanked her, walking in and going straight into Sauli's room then.

And there he was, laying on his bed with his eyes closed. But as he heard me enter the room, he opened his eyes and looked at me with a slightly confused expression, clearly wondering why I was here already.

But then, as he saw how upset I was, he opened his arms and smiled softly. I accepted the offer of a comforting hug and laid down next to him, letting him hug me close. He then just held me there and stroked my hair, not asking any questions, giving me time to calm down.

"Can we run away together..?" I asked quietly after a while, having calmed down a little bit already.

He didn't stop stroking my hair and kissed my forehead before answering. "Yes, Love. We can. But why would you want to run away?"

"Because..." I took a deep breath before starting to explain. "Well, the lord from a nearby town is visiting my parents now with his wife and daughter, who is just in the right age to get married. Or so my mom said. And the lord would want his daughter to be married to me. I thought my mom would know better than to tell them she'd talk to me about it, but no. She actually told me to think about it, because "it would improve the relationship of our towns." I said no, because I have you, and then left. I can't stay there when all they want is for me to marry someone who isn't you. Now do you understand why I want to run away with you?" I asked and looked at him into his eyes.

He looked shocked, which was understandable, and then he leaned his forehead to mine, not breaking eye contact. "I know how to survive in nature. We can take some food from the shop. I just need to tell my mom that I'm going to run away, because I don't want her to get worried about me. And she can keep a secret, so she won't be telling your parents if they come here to look for you." He then said, smiling a little bit.

I smiled too, because his plan sounded good. "I like that plan. Let's go tell your mom, and then go and get the food."

Sauli nodded and got up, offering me a hand to help me up. I took his hand and then followed him into the kitchen. And then, we both sat to the table across from Sauli's mom, and he started explaining the situation to her. She understood, and wished us good luck, also telling us that we could come back when we were ready for it. And she also promised that she wouldn't tell my parents where I am.

We thanked her and Sauli kissed her cheek before we walked into the shop, and Sauli started filling a bag with bread, different kinds of jam, and everything that wouldn't go bad right away. And then, he grabbed a fishing rod from by the wall.

"Now I'm just gonna go and get Coffee, and then we can go." He then said, smiling a bit.

"Okay. I'm gonna go to wait by the gate with Blue." I said as we exited the shop, and Sauli walked behind the house, only to return with Coffee a minute later. He walked to me with the horse following him, and kissed my cheek then.

"Let's go now." He said and smiled, getting to Coffee's back then. He had attached the bag with the food and the fishing rod to Coffee's saddle. I got to Blue's back too, and then we started to ride out of town, going somewhere that no one could find us from.


End file.
